


Subtle Answers

by ObsessionsOfMine



Series: GD Week 2017 [3]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Best friend Vasquez, College student Alex, F/F, Historical AU, Mostly good fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-29 13:09:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11441550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObsessionsOfMine/pseuds/ObsessionsOfMine
Summary: "She’d let Vasquez convince her to come to this bar and, well, perhaps she shouldn’t have. "orIt's Alex's first time in a lesbian bar and she meets a wonderful woman; set in the late 60s(General Danvers Week, Historical AU)





	Subtle Answers

 Alex was uncomfortable. The sentiment in itself wasn’t new, Alex had been uncomfortable plenty of times in her life, but the source of it was. She’d let Vasquez convince her to come to this bar and, well, perhaps she shouldn’t have. You see, Vasquez was...Different, Alex supposed; she wore her hair short like a man’s and wore tailored pants and vests. They had met in college, in the library, really, and there had been something about her that had made Alex feel more at ease than she’d felt with anyone else she’d met on campus or, well, anyone she’d ever met, truly.

 One day, they had been out to get some coffee and share some notes, since they had a few classes in common, and Vasquez had caught her staring at a couple a few tables away from them. There were no questions asked, but the raise of Vasquez eyebrow still made her want to explain herself. She’d told her then, that she’d never felt that level on interest in men and that she thought there was something wrong with her, probably. She could feel her cheeks heating up with the embarrassment that usually followed her bursts of oversharing but, when she looked up, she could see her friend smiling softly at her.

 That was the day she’d learned that her friend fancied women. That was also the day she’d realized she might also fancy women. She wasn’t sure, not really, I mean, maybe she was just twisting her admiration for other women into something else, right? She wasn’t sure there was a way to know. There were very few things she had been certain of: she preferred the company of women, she found women endlessly fascinating, she saw so much beauty in women and she didn’t care much for men. But could she actually love a woman? Had she, perhaps, loved women before, without noticing? There were so many questions and no way she knew to get any answers.

 She had asked Vasquez, then. It had seemed like the only way she’d get any sort of resolution. Her friend had been so confident of her love of women, that Alex felt that reaching out to her was the way to understanding her own feelings. Truthfully, Vasquez hadn’t been very good at explaining exactly how she knew, she just did. It hadn’t been what Alex had been hoping for and she hadn’t quite been able to hide her disappointment; she needed answers, and it was frustrating that she couldn’t find any way to get to them. Vasquez had seemed to sense her disappointment and, with a sigh, she had told Alex she knew of a way to find some answers.

 The bar was rather dark and the loud music mixed with the noise of the patrons around her was enough to leave her feeling a little dazed. But the most amazing part was that the bar was filled entirely of women, all kinds of them. Alex wasn’t used to any of this, not to the women who seemed to be as big and bright as they wished to be, dressed in clothing belonging to either men, women, or a combination of both; not to the women huddled on more private tables, nuzzling and kissing as if the world around them didn’t exist; and not to the strange butterflies that were fluttering about in her stomach.

 “Try to have fun,” Vasquez told her cheekily as she walked away, already greeting a group of women, as if they were old friends. Alex took a deep breath, trying hard to steady her shaking hands. She was 22, she was allowed to be in a bar and have a drink, right? Everything was going to be alright. Except Alex had heard of bars like this and she knew that, every now and then, the police would raid them and people would get arrested, exposed. Have fun? She didn’t think she could manage to stop worrying for five minutes, let alone have anything resembling fun.

 “You’re new here,” she heard from somewhere behind her. Her first instinct was to turn around and, when she did, she saw the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen in her life. She felt herself move her mouth, but heard no sound come out. Of course, the only time she actually wanted to talk to a complete stranger, her brain would fail her like this. Fortunately, the stranger took pity on her, “I’m Astra,” she said, getting closer. Alex looked into into her eyes, and almost wished she hadn’t. Astra had the kind of eyes that were such a light shade of blue they were practically gray, and Alex was sure, oh so very sure, that she could spend hours looking into them. “I was hoping maybe you could tell me your name,” Astra said when Alex’s silence lasted for a little too long.

 “Oh, I’m Alex,” she said quickly, hoping that she hadn’t put Astra off. But, as Alex looked at her, she saw Astra smile, the dim bar lights casting shadows under her pronounced cheekbones. As she bit her lip, Alex caught herself wanting to make Astra smile again. Maybe that was the answer she’d been looking for, or part of it, at least. If she could find herself wanting to make this woman, a complete stranger, smile, then maybe she did like women.

 “Alex,” Astra said slowly, as if testing the name on her tongue. “Well, Alex, do you drink beer?” she asked kindly, the tilt of her head making the curls that came loose from her bun bounce around her face. Alex nodded and whispered a soft yes. Beer wasn’t her preferred drink, but she liked it well enough and she wasn’t about to cut her conversation with Astra short. “How about I buy you one, then?” Astra asked, placing her hand on Alex’s lower back and guiding her to the nearest barstool.  Her hand was warm and Alex felt herself lean into it, relishing in the soft contact against the fabric of her blouse.

 As Astra leaned over the bar to place their order, Alex immediately felt the loss of the hand on her back. For a second, she turned around and managed to catch Vasquez eyes, the warmth spreading in her chest as her friend gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up. This whole thing was new and a little terrifying, but it somehow felt right. She couldn’t imagine herself anywhere else other than sitting on this very barstol, watching as Astra reached for the two beer bottles that had just been placed over the counter.

 She smiled as she took the bottle Astra handed her, her fingers purposefully brushing against Astra’s as she did it. Astra gave her a sweet smile and leaned against the counter, “So,” she began, making sure she had Alex’s full attention; as if Alex could ever look at anyone else, think of anyone else, when Astra was talking to her, “do you live around here?” she asked sweetly and Alex found herself answering, explaining about her moving to the city because of college, her engineering course and the classes she was taking.

 It was easy, so easy, to talk to Astra that Alex could almost forget about what the world would think of her and Astra, about the fact that this bar could be taken over by cops any minute, about the fact that, where she to go to jail, her parents would find out about her preferences and, quite possibly pull her out of college. And maybe, one day, she could completely forget it. If only for a couple of hours.


End file.
